The
Sidewinders played in Tucson Electric Park, located on the south side of Tucson. In
June 2007, Jay Zucker of Tucson Baseball LLC announced the sale of
the Tucson Sidewinders to SK Baseball LLC for $15 M. SK Baseball relocated
the team to Aces
Ballpark in Reno, Nevada for the 2009 season, where they became the Reno Aces.

History

Team origins

From
1969-97 the Tucson Toros were Tucson's Triple-A
baseball club, playing at Hi Corbett Field in midtown Tucson. Part of the old 10-team
configuration of the Pacific Coast League, the Toros won the PCL
Championship in 1991 and 1993. The Toros were preceded by a number
of other Tucson teams between 1915 and 1958, such as the Tucson
Cowboys and the Tucson Lizards.

After the
MLB expansion that added the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix and Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the Toros moved
to Fresno, California as the Fresno
Grizzlies. The Phoenix
Firebirds relocated to Tucson, briefly became the Tucson Toros
(1997), and then became the Sidewinders (1998), the Triple-A
affiliate of the new Diamondbacks. This was accomplished by what
amounted to a "swap" in ownership in 1997, with Firebirds owner
Martin Stone purchasing the Toros and Toros owner Rick Holtzman
receiving interest in the Firebirds. The Tucson team retained
management and staff primarily from the Toros, and traces its
history from the Toros rather than the Firebirds.

The Tucson Toros had been affiliated with the Chicago White Sox (1969-72), the Oakland Athletics (1973-76), the Texas Rangers (1977-1979), the
Houston Astros (1980-96), and the
Milwaukee Brewers (1997 only, with
one Diamondbacks prospect, Travis Lee,
playing with them by special arrangement). At the time of the
change in venue and affiliations (1998), a new Tucson team name,
the "Sidewinders" was chosen after a name the team contest was
held.

Sidewinders era

With the coming of the Diamondbacks, a new ballpark was needed for
spring training in Tucson, since the Colorado Rockies used Hi
Corbett Field. Tucson Electric Park was built, and became the
spring training site for the both the Diamondbacks and the Chicago White Sox. It also became home to
the Tucson Sidewinders in 1998. Many changes took place between
1997 and 1999 - a new name, new affiliation, newly expanded league,
new owner, new general manager and new venue - resulting in
disgruntled fans and lower than expected attendance. Financial arrangements
between team owners and Pima County were also the subject of criticism. After
purchasing the team in 2000, owner Jay Zucker attempted to improve
the situation with a variety of promotions, including weekly
fireworks. These efforts met with limited success.

The team was very successful as a supplier of major league-quality
players to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Many individual Sidewinders
performed admirably in mid-season call-ups, sometimes returning to
the major league club time and again as needed. This earned the
Sidewinders the nickname "Baby 'Backs."

Sidewinders timeline

1997 - Martin Stone, a businessman, land
speculator and former owner of the Phoenix Firebirds, purchases the Tucson
Toros from Rick Holtzman. The Tucson Toros have a one year player
development contract with the Milwaukee Brewers, filling the gap between
the end of the Toros' contract with Houston and the beginning of
the team's affiliation with the expansion Diamondbacks.
Diamondbacks prospect Travis Lee plays in
Tucson for part of the season. Toros owner Stone persuades the Pima
County Board of Supervisors to approve a lease on Tucson Electric
Park (then under construction) that protects the team owner from a
portion of the team's financial losses at taxpayer expense.

1998 - The renamed Tucson Sidewinders begin their
affiliation with the Arizona Diamondbacks, playing at Tucson
Electric Park. A new mascot is also introduced, Sandy Sidewinder, a
snake with arms. The old mascot, Tuffy the Toro, is phased
out.

1999 - In May, longtime Toros general manager Mike
Feder is fired from the Sidewinders by team owner Stone. A local
uproar ensues in support of Feder. He is replaced by Jack Donovan.
After the season, broadcasting entrepreneur Jay Zucker purchases
the Sidewinders from Martin Stone, reportedly for about $7 to $8
million, after Stone is diagnosed with prostate cancer. The new
ownership group, led by Jay and Melinda Zucker, is Tucson Baseball,
LLC.

2000 - Zucker loses over $200,000 in his first
season as owner. Feder returns as GM.

2001 - Feder leaves prior to the season to take a
role as Regional Marketing Director for the NFL's New Orleans
Saints. Todd Woodford returns to Tucson as general manager after
spending a year with the PCL's Salt Lake franchise.

2002 - Rick Parr becomes the team's general
manager. Despite the parent club's World Series win the previous
year, the Sidewinders report 268,807 total attendance for the
season, an average of 3,895 per game. Tucson Electric Park has a
capacity of 11,000.

2003 - Tucson Sidewinders prospects earn the
nickname "Baby 'Backs" with their relative youth and frequent
call-ups to the major league club.

2006 - The team finishes the regular season 91-53,
the best in AAA baseball for 2006 and a new franchise record. Team
manager Chip Hale is named PCL Manager of
the Year. After defeating the Salt Lake
Bees 3-1 in a best-of-five PCL Pacific Conference Championships
series, the Sidewinders win the Pacific Coast League Championship
Series in three straight games versus the Round Rock Express. They then defeat the
International League champion,
the Toledo Mud Hens, 5-2 in a
one-game playoff in Oklahoma
City for the unofficial AAA title. Despite this
feat, the Sidewinders still suffer from dwindling fan attendance
and a general lack of interest from the Tucson market. After the
2006 season, the Sidewinders renew their player development
contract with the Diamondbacks for another two years. Manager Chip
Hale is promoted to the Diamondbacks coaching staff as their new
third base coach.

2007 - Bill Plummer,
the former manager of the Diamondbacks' former Double-A affiliate,
the Tennessee Smokies, takes over
as skipper for the Sidewinders in 2007. Randy Johnson pitches the home opener as part
of a brief rehab stint with the Sidewinders, and picks up a win for
the team in his second outing on April 20.
Hampered
by low attendance and concerns over the location and playing field
maintenance at Tucson Electric Park, Tucson Baseball LLC sells the Tucson Sidewinders
to SK Baseball LLC for $15 M in June 2007. Tucson finishes
the 2007 season with a 75-67 record, the second most wins in
Sidewinders history. Tucson Baseball LLC completes sale of the team
to SK Baseball LLC on September 12, 2007. Also in September,
outgoing Sidewinders owner Zucker announces the formation of a new
Tucson baseball team with an old name: the Tucson Toros, to begin play in 2009 as part of
the Golden Baseball
League.

2008 and beyond - The Sidewinders have a win-loss
record of 60-82 for their final season in Tucson, finishing in
fourth (last) place in Pacific South division of the PCL.
SK
Baseball plans to relocate the team to Reno, NV for the 2009 season, where they will be known as
the Reno Aces.The reconstituted
Tucson Toros return to Hi Corbett Field to begin play in 2009.

Several players listed were "Tucson" players only by virtue of
being sent down to AAA for rehab after an injury.

Team name

The name "Sidewinder" refers to
both a snake indigenous to Arizona and pitchers with a particular style of
throwing. Since a Diamondback
rattlesnake is also common in Arizona, the Tucson team's name is
now more in line with that of the parent club than the alliterative
name "Tucson Toros." For a few seasons ending in 2005, the
Sidewinders unofficially played under the old name on "Toros
Tuesdays", wearing pinstriped Toros uniforms. The team still has
occasional Toros-related promotions, such as a giveaway of replica
Toros hats.

The team name will change its name to the Reno
Aces with the move to Reno.